It began ten minutes after a flight took off from the remote desert city of Hotan in China’s Xinjiang province, a largely ethnic Uighur area. Six people apparently attempted to take control of the plane but were overpowered by passengers and subdued. The aircraft, originally headed towards the provincial capital of Urumqi, was diverted back to Hotan, and the suspects were taken into custody.

Xinjiang, a province in China’s far west that borders central Asia, is predominantly Uighur, a mostly Muslim ethnic group that speaks a Turkic dialect. The region has a long and contentious relationship with Beijing’s control. As with neighboring Tibet, the region has seen violent uprisings in recent years, including one last year that caused 32 deaths, including 18 in Hotan itself.